Ontario WSIB is hosting free webinars on the Ontario Employment Standards Act.

I have NOT attended these, so not sure of the content, but thought it may be useful to clients.

Information sessions

The ministry, in partnership with organizations across Ontario, provides general information sessions on the Employment Standards Act (ESA).

These information sessions are delivered by subject matter experts from the ministry and cover topics such as hours of work, public holidays, leaves of absence and more.

To sign up for a session, check the calendar below and contact the host directly. This calendar is updated as new sessions are scheduled.

If you would like to request an information session about an ESA topic outside of the sessions listed in the calendar, please email EOP@Ontario.ca. Please note: Our ability to provide a session depends on the availability of staff and number of attendees (minimum of 10 participants).

https://ontario.us16.list-manage.com/track/click?u=4ebaa11387038c3e29a6a4a8b&id=54e85149a3&e=a048bc1cf2

Each year we include a reminder in your renewal documents about this incredibly valuable (and FREE) benefit, but thought a separate reminder might be a good idea.  Please reach out to your Business (P&C) broker to double check.

Plan or Benefit Administrator Liability coverage is a “Rider” to your business liability (CGL) policy.  It provides coverage in the event an error or omission being made in the administration of the benefit plan (e.g. an employer fails to enrol a new hire and a death, disability or health event then occurs).  I’ve included excepts from a copy of my policy to illustrate what the coverage looks like.

Please reach out to your Business (P&C) broker to double check that you have this rider.  It should not cost anything to add it (for groups under 500 employees), but if they say it will, I can connect you with a broker that can provide a competitive quote that will include it at no charge.  Just ask.

On April 1, 2025, the Government of Ontario announced that the general minimum wage will increase from $17.20 per hour to $17.60 per hour effective October 1, 2025. This change applies to most employees but not all.

Some exceptions include:

• Students under the age of 18 who work 28 hour or less per week while school is in session or those who work during a break or summer holidays will be entitled to a minimum wage of $16.60 per hour effective October 1, 2025.
• Hunting, fishing, and wilderness guides will see an increase to $88.05 for working fewer than five consecutive hours in a day or $176.15 if they work five or more hours in a day, regardless of whether the hours are consecutive. This change is effective October 1, 2025.
• The homeworkers minimum wage will increase to $19.35 per hour. This includes students of any age who are employed as homeworkers. This change is effective October 1, 2025.

(content from E2R)

Sun Life has released their annual report on the Provincial Dental Fee Guide adjustments.  Overall, most provinces are seeing lower than average increases with Ontario being the LOWEST after a few years of much higher than average increases (see below).

2025: 2.03%      2024: 4.5%      2023: 8.50%     2022: 4.75%    2021: 4.60%    2020: 1.27%   2019: 4.19%   2018: 2.5%

The majority of our client/partners are not expected to see large negative effects from the impending tariffs being levied by the US.  In fact, some may actually be helped by those imposed by Canada.  That said, there are some options available to employers that are affected.  The article below provides some general into on these programs. 

As discussed in our FTR Now articles of February 6, 2025 and February 14, 2025, the economic uncertainty caused by the prospect of tariffs has led employers to consider temporary layoffs and mass terminations.

https://www.mondaq.com/canada/employee-rights-labour-relations/1588664/managing-temporary-workplace-disruptions-supplemental-unemployment-benefit-plans-and-the-employment-insurance-work-sharing-program

Every year we see an insurer or TPA generate a “tax update” that shows the new CPP/QPP/ EI/ Tax/WSIB and benefit taxation details.  Some of these have been the same for years (like RST on benefits in Ontario), but others change each year like CPP.

The document below, from BBD, provides information that you may find useful. 

If you have any questions, please reach out anytime, or speak to your accountant.

BBD-Tax-Tips

A few updates to the Ontario ESA are coming into effect this year.  The amendments noted here are provided by e2r

In December, Ontario’s Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229) received Royal Assent and we’ve outlined below the key legislative changes of interest to Ontario employers:

Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) – The amendments introduce two new unpaid leaves under the ESA:

1.   Long-Term Illness Leave – Effective June 19, 2025

• An employee who has been employed for at least thirteen consecutive weeks will be entitled to an unpaid leave of up to twenty-seven weeks if they are not able to perform their duties because of a serious medical condition.
• Entitlement to the leave is conditional on the employee providing a certificate or note from a qualified health practitioner (e.g., doctor, registered nurse or psychologist), confirming the employee has a serious medical condition and the period in which the employee will not perform their duties because of the serious medical condition.

2.   Placement of Child Leave – Effective TBD

• An employee with at least 13 weeks of service is entitled to an unpaid leave of up to 16 weeks after the placement or arrival of a child into the employee’s custody, care and control through adoption or surrogacy.

If you’re an Ontario employer, it only takes a few minutes see if you meet the legal requirements that apply to most workplaces in Ontario. 

Do you have the following in place?

* This list is non-exhaustive and applies to provincially-regulated employers.

In an effort to ease family physicians workload, both Ontario and Quebec are removing employers ability to ask for sick notes for absences under 3 days.  Quebec has actually implemented possible penalties of $10,000 to $1,000,000 and starts Jan. 1, 2025. 

Ontario announces the end of sick notes

On April 24, 2024, Ontario’s Health Minister announced that employers would no longer be permitted to request that a sick employee provide a doctor’s note to justify their absence. This change is part of new legislation proposed by the Minister of Labour, and is part of a larger initiative to reduce paperwork for physicians.

Under the current provisions in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), employees who have been employed for at least two consecutive weeks are entitled to a minimum of three days per year of sick leave. The ESA currently allows employers to require employees to provide “evidence reasonable in the circumstances” that the employee is sick. Historically, this has included the option of a doctor’s note.

The amendment abolishing “sick notes” applies to employees when using the three days of statutory sick leave under the ESA. Moving forward, employers can still require employees to provide different forms of evidence supporting their illness, such as a signed self-attestation, but such evidence cannot involve physician intervention.

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Bill 68: When And How Can An Employer Request A Medical Certificate

As of January 1, 2025, employers will no longer be able to require their employees to provide a document attesting to the reasons for their absence due to illness (e.g. a medical certificate) to justify the first three (3) periods of absences due to illness lasting three (3) days or less over a twelve (12) month period. Bill 68 does not provide for any exception allowing the employer to request a document justifying the absence during these periods, regardless of whether the absence falls at a specific time of the year (for example, before or after a statutory holiday)¹. The objective of this amendment is to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare professionals, who would otherwise have to spend time writing medical bills for short-term absences.

READ ARTICLE